The stately piece of furniture was a present from my wife on our first Christmas together.

The rolltop desk had come as a kit, ready to assemble and stain. She and her father had spent countless hours fitting the pieces together, attaching the drawer handles, and making certain the drawers worked properly and the rolling top slid smoothly in its tracks -- never mind the instructions.It was a labor of love and a thing of beauty to behold.

The majestic desk would be the perfect home for a future computer. It would be just the place for typing letters, taking care of bills, writing in journals and performing other office-like tasks. Best off all, when you were done, there would be no need to pick up. Simply slide down the top to hide everything -- including ugly computer wires -- from view.

Unfortunately, its most desireable feature -- the rolling top -- became its biggest disadvantage.

The desk soon became a magnet for every pile in the house.Stack of magazines or papers on the floor? No problem. Stick it out of sight in the desk.

Unexpected company coming? Plop those loose CDs, photos and screwdrivers in the desk, and roll it shut.

Don't know where to store the walkie-talkies or folders filled with Boy Scout Merit Badge paperwork? Shove them in the desk.

The elegant rolltop desk has become nothing more than a glorified storage bin. It's become a convenient place to conceal whatever is lying around.

I can't remember the last time I actually used the desk to pay bills or take care of the mail.

Instead, the mail has become my daily exercise. I pull envelopes out of the closet, rummage through the kitchen drawer for a pen, snatch paper from the computer printer, scour the house for my checkbook and fetch the calculator from my wife's purse.

And oh, yes, I dig for the stamps and return-address labels inside the rolltop desk. They're in there somewhere.

My New Year's resolution is to clean out the desk, find homes for all the clutter inside, and finally use it for its intended purpose.

And believe me, it won't be easy.The desk is brimming, so much so that it's a struggle to close the top.

Unfortunately, cleaning the desk was my New Year's resolution last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.

Maybe the bulging desk is a blessing in disguise. If I didn't have to run all over the house to do the mail, I might put on extra weight.

And losing that weight might be an even more difficult resolution to keep.